


Two Scenes at Santana's Pool Party: Summer Lovin'

by stripped, tryslora



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-25
Updated: 2010-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-10 06:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/96735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stripped/pseuds/stripped, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryslora/pseuds/tryslora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But when Rachel sits next to him like she is now, her knees brushing his, he can't see anything but her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Scenes at Santana's Pool Party: Summer Lovin'

They're all done with the pool. Sated from the barbecue, they relax on the side, a picture cast in sighs and chattering of the way they will begin their junior year in just a week. They fell like dominoes over the course of the summer: Quinn argued with Puck about Beth, then Rachel dumped Finn because Finn was an idiot with Kurt, then Finn dumped Kurt because Finn never did get over Quinn. So after all that, now Quinn sits in front of Finn, leaning back against him. Santana and Brittany are curled together, and Brittany has her arm around Becky's shoulders. Rachel sits... and Puck stops looking there, because Rachel gets up to walk over to sit next to him, crossing her legs and sitting quietly.

They've been going out again for two months, and it has been pure hell. He hasn't touched her. Not because he doesn't want to, but because Rachel's too good for that. He heard a rumor she lost her virginity to Jesse, and he doesn't care. He wants to do this right. When she's ready. Not when she has those wide eyes like a scared rabbit if his hand strays too close to the buttons of her blouse.

But when she sits next to him like she is now, her knees brushing his, he can't see anything but her.

He starts to play the guitar and sing, because it gives him something to do with his hands and something to say that isn't sticking his foot so far down his throat that he's afraid he'll never get it out. Something light and summery, that he doesn't have to think about and that suits the fading sun. It doesn't take long before everyone else sings along to the well-worn seventies song, and when it ends, Puck looks around, trying to decide what to play next.

"How's the pool cleaning business going this summer?" Matt calls out.

Puck doesn't really want to talk about this. "Not nearly as well as it did last year."

Matt nudges Mike. "It'd be hard to beat his record from last year. He cleaned _thirty pools_." Mike grins, laughs and nudges Puck from the other side.

"Why wouldn't you try to clean more than thirty pools?" Rachel asks quietly, looking confused. Matt and Mike only laugh.

"Sometimes the pools get attached," Puck mutters sharply. Like this one lady who decided she _loved_ him last summer. Bought him flowers, tried to get him to keep coming back for household work all winter. God, she must've been thirty. Ancient.

Of course, his answers doesn't help, and Rachel still has that quizzical look on her face. But Puck doesn't want to explain.

"So which pool was the worst?" Mike asks this time.

"None of them," Puck says, starting to play something, anything, on the guitar to cut them off. It doesn't work.

"Alright, which pool was the _best_," Matt nudges him.

Puck can't help it; he looks across at Santana. It wasn't anything about love or emotion; she was just damned good. "The poisonous one," he says quietly. "The one I'm better off without."

She knows what he means and sticks her tongue out at him. Brittany does the same, and Santana says, "Don't stick it out if you're not going to use it." So Brittany does, and kisses her like she means it.

Which is about the point when Rachel finally catches on. "Oh, _pools_," she says quietly. "Thirty _pools_ last summer? How many this summer?"

Puck doesn't quite know what to say, and that's entirely the wrong thing to do. If he says he's only cleaning ten pools this year -- which is true, and he's only cleaning them this time around -- she'll still think the wrong thing. By the time he's done puzzling out how to answer in a way that's honest, but saves his reputation, she's on her feet and walking away.

So much for his reputation.

He sets the guitar back in its case, well away from the water, and closes it up securely. Then he heads after her. "Berry," he calls out.

"You could call me Rachel," she says quietly, stopping with her arms wound around her center and not looking at him.

"I like calling you Berry, especially when your nose is as red as one," he says, and wraps his arms around her center as well, pulling her back against his chest. "I'm only cleaning the pools this summer. That's all."

"Why do you want me?" she asks.

The question comes out of the blue, tangling his tongue. "I like you, Berry."

"You like sex, too."

She has a point. And he hasn't had sex in two whole freakin' months, which has to say something, right? So he says as much, but she's still quiet in his arms. "Berry..." When she doesn't respond, he kisses the back of her ear, and whispers, "Rachel."

"I like the way your arms feel around me," she says quietly. "Would you wait for me, if I'm not ready?"

It's been hard these last two months. Really freakin' hard, especially around those ladies. They know how to look hot, and they know he wants them, so they parade around in bikinis and try to convince him to do more than their pool. It's hard to resist, but he's starting to think that maybe she's worth it. So he nods slowly. "Yeah. I'll wait."

The moment passes in a long breath in and out, sighing into a whisper, "Then I want to do it tonight."

"What?"

She turns in his arms, biting her lip. "You. Me. Candles. Us." A soft hesitation. "It."

Puck looks down at her and all thought flees. There's only one correct response.

"I'll get the car."

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is the second of two fics written as a part of a mix challenge on glee_fans on Dreamwidth. The songs for this piece are listed below.
> 
> Songs:  
> 1\. Take the Money and Run -- Steve Miller Band  
> [no lyrics, this is just one of the quintissential songs for the summer sun]
> 
> 2\. Summer Lovin -- The Vandals  
> _tell me more,_  
> was this texas or france?  
> tell me more,  
> did you get in her pants?
> 
> 3\. Toxic Valentine -- All Time Low  
> _Sex and white lies_  
> Handcuffs and alibis  
> She lays her halo on the pillow as she sleeps  
> Her heart beats red wine  
> My toxic valentine
> 
> 4\. All I Want -- Emery  
> _All I want is to feel this way_  
> To be this close, to feel the same  
> All I want is to feel this way  
> The evening speaks, I feel it say...
> 
> 5\. Secret Valentine (Acoustic) -- We the Kings  
> _Soft kiss and wine_  
> What a pretty friend of mine  
> We're finally intertwined  
> Nervous and shy for the moment we will come alive  
> Tonight  
> Secret valentine
> 
> [Sept 3, 2017] Once upon a time I had two completely separate identities online, for a variety of reasons, most of which had to do with needing a place where I could privately talk to the world. Except the private talking identity also became a fic writing identity, and yes, it's taken me this long to figure out that I can close out the private parts and link the fic parts to my usual self online. So hi. I'm also tryslora.


End file.
